This sites popularity?

[SScott]

I have a question. This site is by far the best supercharger site I have ever been to. The navigation is perfect and has good moderation. It covers every SC made almost, it loads fast and is pleasing to the eye. The people here are more than friendly. It uses vBulletin which is the best forum platform.

There should be nearly as many active members as YellowBullet.com and at least as many as The Corral.

What's the deal? I am NOT complaining just curious. What can I do to drive more folks here?

Thanks,

Scott :blob:

[Gearhead]

I have a question. This site is by far the best supercharger site I have ever been to. The navigation is perfect and has good moderation. It covers every SC made almost, it loads fast and is pleasing to the eye. The people here are more than friendly. It uses vBulletin which is the best forum platform.

There should be nearly as many active members as YellowBullet.com and at least as many as The Corral.

What's the deal? I am NOT complaining just curious. What can I do to drive more folks here?

Thanks,

Scott :blob:

I've sort of been wondering this same thing myself. I think several years ago (2004-2006) it was THE site for people w/supercharged cars. Hope it gets back to that !!!

[Michael]

To be honest with you guys, I have no idea why the site's popularity/traffic has been so poor of late either.

When I first joined SCH, it was really hopping - lots of great discussions, and a wealth of information. However, I wasn't an overly-active member at the time, and I hadn't been around for a while. When Ian, the former owner and founder of SCH announced that he was looking to sell the site, I was intrigued and we began talking. He was going to shut the site down if he didn't find someone to take SCH off his hands. I didn't want to see this great community die off, and the wealth of information it possessed get lost forever, so (with no prior vBulletin/MySQL/website maintenance experience) I purchased the site in early 2009 and have been running/maintaining it ever since.

The membership growth has been slow but steady, however the amount of activity hasn't been very high. I do, to a certain degree, blame myself for this lack of activity though. I have been in school the last two years (in fact, I was in school when I purchased SCH) and haven't been able to spend much time here, thus my own participation hasn't been stellar. And whether it's a legitimate excuse or not, nobody likes an "absentee landlord", and that's exactly what I've been.

However, I am now done with school, and have recently (this week) finally returned home following a much needed vacation, so I hope to be able to participate in more discussions and have a much greater "presence" on the site here.

To that end, I am open to any suggestions for improving /promoting the site and getting the word out there. While it would be great to bring some new blood to SCH, I would really like to see some of the old members return. They were the ones that made this place great!

[SScott]

Sounds like you just got stage one kicked off to a great start! If you need any help, let me know, I also have a vBulletin (180v.com) test bed you can use if you want to try something and not worry about tearing up the site.

[Michael]

Thanks SScott, I may take you up on your offer.

There are a few things that I have been considering to implement here on SCH. For example, I would like to try and implement a vBadvanced CMPS front page /portal for the site. It's something that a lot of high-traffic forum sites have, and I think it would move SCH to 'the next level'. Unfortunately, I have no experience installing these types of third-party software plug-ins, and I am concerned about causing damage to the existing SCH site itself.

I'd also like to implement a Product Review section (like ReviewPost), so that users can post their personal experiences with various products / services. I believe ReviewPost can also be used to post technical articles and DIY How-Tos. But again, not having much experience installing such software, I don't want to cause SCH to go down while trying to implement these changes.

I also think that the site is lacking an "Engine Tech" section, one where people can ask technical questions about engine building/tuning that doesn't necessarily pertain to any one particular brand of supercharger. The "General Chat" & "General Tech" sections just don't cut it for SCH members IMHO.

Of course, as nice as these things would be, I don't know if they will drive site traffic / activity upwards.

[SScott]

Sounds VERY good! If you want to try those out on my test site let me know and I will shoot you admin logins and you can hammer away and not worry about breaking your site.

I know this will fix it self when more people stick around but having questions answered is a big deal. I am a long time member on several forums, I will drive a little traffic over here every now and then.

[Michael]

Thanks again for the offer. Like I said, I may take you up on it.

And you're right - having questions answered is a big deal. After all, that's why a large majority of people who visit, join, and participate on forum sites do so in the first place. There are some great moderators and great members on this site that have provided a lot of people with a lot of advice, direction, and feedback. And I tip my hat to those who have stuck around SCH and continue to do so despite the site's drop in activity / popularity.

Driving more traffic over to SCH would certainly help with site activity and discussions, and I implore all SCH members who are active on other forum sites to do the same thing as you're offering. This is a great community - probably the best on the 'net with respect to supercharging - and it deserves a vibrant active atmosphere.

[SScott]

Cool beans! is there a build section? I'll throw my junk up with pics and maybe others will too, I love to follow builds like Obama likes to lie.

[Michael]

No, there is no specific build section. Just the "General Tech" section; feel free to post there.

But a build section is a very good idea... another site suggestion added to the list.

[SScott]

Cool, I'll put my junk on there and if you make a build section it can be moved.

[root]

SCH was born in 2002 - notice my join date.

SCH used to be made up of 3 smaller sites Procharger, Paxton, and Vortech related. I had them brought into one - this was a big project and the site was busy.

People started to fall off and traffic died down, I also became very busy with other projects / work / family.

It has a ton of info that is priceless and I am sure Michael will work hard to bring it back to life.

Cheers,

Ian

[rampant racing]

man there really isn't much traffic on here is there?it's really too bad cause it seems like a good site.but i guess we should keep in mind that when people get the blowers working properly they really have no need to be here all the time. i myself found this site looking for info on blow off valves.i have come to the conclusion that 99% of the people with bov's haven't got a clue about them or how they work but they sure like to give advice.lol i hope your postings and membership pick up for you.

[Michael]

man there really isn't much traffic on here is there?... i hope your postings and membership pick up for you.

You're right, the site's traffic is slow. Has been for a while now. But there are a number of reasons for it, one of which you've already mentioned (once people solve their supercharging issue they don't really stick around). And, let's face it, heading into winter, most people put their rides away; most race series are also coming to an end about now too. These factors - and I'm sure many more - are all contributing to slow traffic.

But understand, a pick-up in postings and membership is of not benefit to me. I may own the site, but I'm just one member of a much larger community. If the postings and membership picks up, it's to the benefit of the community... not me. Forums are only as strong as their membership and the content/discussions they bring with them.

[rampant racing]

yes well i find that winter time is a good time to get on the forums and find out what people are up to as far as mods go for there cars over the winter and what they hope to accomplish for the following season.i hope it picks up for everyone.

[Goliath5.0]

Michael and Ian hit it DEAD on the head...

As Ian can vouch for me, I am one of the original members of the site and started back when novipower.com was around.

A lot of the OG crew as I call them have drifted away either because they sold their stangs or due to other circumstances/reasons.

The site was IMHO awesome and still is!

Personally, I own a large forum for Ford Lightnings and HD F150's and also a new and upcoming Mustang forum as well! I own two servers that are colocated and I do all the sever admin work on our linux box.

I am willing help out the new owner bring SCH back to life if he'd like.

Maybe we can even do a banner exchange of some sort and get some linkbacks, etc...

Anyhoot, I'm still here and will be! I love SCH!


-Chris